


Laugh

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Consequences, Gen, Happy Ending, choices we make
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 11:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Harry vanquishes Voldemort, the Wizarding World quickly turns on him.  He disappears with some friends.  Hermione chooses to stay behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laugh

His laugh broke the silence. It was the laugh of someone who had hit rock bottom, the laugh of someone who had nothing left to lose. It was a laugh that broke her heart, because she couldn’t help but feel he didn’t bring this upon himself. It was done to him and it most assuredly was not fair. Of all people, he deserved this the least. Watching this, his decline from grace, was heart breaking and she yearned to do something to help him. But, how could she without being put into the same position, without losing everything. She was already considered suspect because she was his best friend for the past six and a half years. No, it was best for them both if she worked in silence, she reasoned to herself. How would there ever be change if they were both prosecuted and ran out of the Wizarding World? His incredulous, disbelieving laugh gradually softened and became silent. She watched him, looking around the room, knowing, praying these accusations were a joke. A bitter chuckle escaped him and a wry smile curved his lips as he realized he was well and truly abandoned. And she felt her soul shatter when this man, a man she knew to be pure and kind and loving looked at her with piercing green eyes showing hurt and abandonment and softly whispered, “Et tu, Brute?”

Hermione watched as everyone hurled excuses and accusations at her best friend. She found herself nodding along as a man spoke to her about that no good upstart getting what he deserved. She didn’t move when Ron, Neville, George, and Luna joined Harry. She didn’t extend her hand to touch the portkey. She didn’t go with them far away from an ungrateful world. After all of her hard work and everything she had accomplished in the Wizarding World, how could she possibly start over now? It just wasn’t a logical decision. She’d given up everything for this world, her family, her friends. She experienced the life of a fugitive. She couldn’t possibly do it again. Go through it again. And really, if they abandoned the Wizarding World to its flaws and judgements how could they ever expect it to improve? Hermoine Jean Granger knew her place. It’s here, quietly making changes behind the scenes. If she never sees her best friends again, well then it’s through no fault of hers. 

Later when they demanded she speak against Harry or go to jail, the words slipped easily out of her mouth. With every trial, every story, the words became easier still. She grew cold and hollow inside. She and Percy joined together to work with the minister. They eventually married and had the requisite two children. Though she won’t admit it, sometimes Hermoine Jean Granger-Weasley sits by herself in a corner and dreams. She dreams she had stood up for Harry. She dreams Hugo and Molly were her and Ron’s children instead of her and Percy. She dreams of taking them and disappearing. She dreams of smiles and laughter. Then she stops being silly, because everything she’s done has been logical and for the best and Hermoine Jean Granger-Weasley doesn’t do anything so plebeian as to laugh anymore, much less wish for it. Years later, her daughter spearheads the changes Hermoine believed she would bring about and looks at her mother with disgust upon learning of her betrayal of a friend. The public turns on her. She is an easy scapegoat, the woman who should have known better, the woman who passively allowed them to drive the savior away. Percy has left her and her children only come to see her when they feel obligated. Her grandchildren barely know who she is. She sits alone and lets out a bitter laugh. Imagining she can finally appreciate how her friend felt so many years ago.

Somewhere across the world, Harry sits in a room next to the love of his life, friends who are closer than family, and the children his heart always yearned for. He smiles in delight at their antics and laughs uninhibited, love shining in his eyes. His house is never tidy and people constantly drop by unannounced. His grandchildren and the children living nearby visit seemingly everyday. Harry James Potter knows he is exactly where he should be in life. He knows all the difficulties he experienced are well worth this ending. He laughs full of glee, content and satisfied surrounded by all of those he loves.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Please feel free (and encouraged) to let me know what you think with a review.


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